FIG. 1 depicts a side view of portion of a conventional energy assisted magnetic recording (EAMR) disk drive 10. The conventional EAMR disk drive 10 includes a recording media 12, a conventional EAMR head 20, and a conventional laser diode 30 that are typically attached to a suspension (not shown). The EAMR head 20 includes a slider 22 and EAMR transducer 24. Other components that may be part of the conventional EAMR disk drive 10 are not shown. The conventional slider 22 is typically attached to a suspension (not shown). A conventional EAMR transducer 24 is coupled with the slider 22 on the trailing face of the slider 22.
The conventional EAMR transducer 24 includes a grating (not separately shown) that receives light from the laser diode. The light from the laser diode 30 is coupled into the grating and then provided to a waveguide (not shown) of the conventional transducer 24. The waveguide directs the light toward the conventional media 12. The light is typically coupled to a near-field transducer (NFT) that is not shown in FIG. 1. The NFT couples the light to small region of the conventional media 12, which is heated. The conventional EAMR transducer 24 magnetically writes to the conventional media 12 in the region the conventional media 12 is heated.
Although the conventional EAMR disk drive 10 may function, manufacturing the conventional EAMR disk drive 10 at an acceptable cost and with sufficient optical efficiency may be problematic. More specifically, integration of the laser 30 with the slider 22 in a manner that allows for efficient light delivery may be challenging. Both wafer level waveguide process control and laser diode attachment accuracy affect alignment of the laser 30 with the relevant portions of the EAMR head 20. Misalignments adversely affect the coupling of optical energy from the laser to the EAMR transducer 24 and thus to the media 12. The optical efficiency of the EAMR head 20 and, therefore, head performance may be adversely affected. In addition, laser diode performance typically changes with environment and time. Consequently, driving the laser 30 at a set power based on its initial output eventually results in the laser 30 producing insufficient energy. Again, performance of the EAMR head 10 may be adversely affected.
Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method for improving manufacturability and performance of an EAMR disk drive.